Mechanization Studied at Knoxville

THROUGH the courtesy of the Southern Appala-chian Coal Operators' Association, a joint meeting of the Southern Appalachian Efficiency Associa-tion and local members of the A. I. M. E. and A. S. M. E. was held at Knoxville, Tenn., on Nov. 12. In introduc-ing the subject and stating the object of the meeting, H. Foster Bain, speaking for the. Institute members, said "Shoveling coal is the largest job of hand labor re-maining in this country, with the exception of the mis-cellaneous work on the farms, and even there nearly all the big jobs are now performed with the help of machines. The men in the coal mines, by hand labor, dig, each year, more cubic yards than were taken out of the Panama Canal. It has been a natural ambition of engineers, operators and men alike to follow here the characteristic lead of American industry and to substi-tute as far as possible the work of machines for the work of men; to promote the latter to the position of con-trolling and directing mechanical power rather than being themselves the machines that lift the coal from the floor of the room into the mine car. "Handling materials is one of the regular jobs of mechanical engineers, and the American Society of Me-chanical Engineers maintains a Materials Handling Division for discussion of the technical problems con-cerned. Having in mind the excellent results that had flowed from application of mechanical power and de-vices to these problems in factories, port terminals, warehouses, and other above-ground plants, the Me-chanical Engineers began to consider the possibility of introducing similar methods underground. Individual-ly, many were called upon to design, erect and operate machines for such use and at once they found them-selves faced by many novel conditions and difficulties. The Division thereupon planned a general meeting in New York in March, 1926, for consideration of problems and progress in this field. The Mining Engineers. and representative coal operators were invited to attend and